What Is A Takeback In Chess? (Answered)

If you’ve ever played chess, there’s a big chance you’ve regretted making a move. Whether because it left your piece vulnerable to an attack, due to not clearly understanding your opponent’s move, or even because there was a better move you failed to see at the moment.

No matter the reason, all you wanted at that moment was to go back in time and have a second chance to move your piece. But is that possible?

What Is A Takeback In Chess?

We know that, apart from the movies, there is no physical possibility of actually going back in time. However, there is a chance you get the chance to play again as if your last move didn’t count.

That is called a takeback, and it is an actual second chance, as the player who benefitted from the takeback can move the piece used in the last play to its previous position and get a new chance.

It goes without saying that takebacks are only allowed in amateur matches. No professional player would allow their opponents to take back a move, as that would simply give him or her too much of a chance or even completely ruin his or her strategy.

Apart from being restricted to non-professional spaces, takebacks are normally only allowed in online games. That is mainly because, in these spaces, a mouse slip can be easily misread as an actual move.

Not every move attempt in online matches is an actual move. Have you ever seen a player project a move by making the intended move before returning the piece to its former position?

Well, that is not allowed in professional matches, either. By the official rules, if a player touches a piece, that piece has to be moved.

Situations Where A Touched Piece Doesn’t Have To Move

There are only two situations in which the piece touched by the player doesn’t have to move.

The first is if the piece is clearly taking a dubious space between two squares, in which case the player has to say “J’adoube” to assure the opponent that the move is simply a correction of the piece’s place.

The second is if the intended move is illegal, in which case the player can simply let the touched piece in its original place and touch the piece that is actually going to be moved.

As you can see, neither of the options benefits the player that ‘takes back’ the move and are simply moves that set the game into a more playable status.

Our Verdict

Lastly, takebacks are not always allowed in online matches, and should you opt for a quick match with the takeback option set to on, be sure that there will be no rating in that match. Apart from being too much of an advantage, taking back moves doesn’t reflect the real game.

So, keep your takebacks to matches in which you are simply trying to learn new moves or practicing new strategies, and remember that, when you get to the real deal, you can’t take your moves back.